Court: Moore didn’t defame vet
A federal appeals court in Boston has ruled that filmmaker Michael Moore did not defame an Iraq war veteran when Moore used a clip from a TV interview without his permission in “Fahrenheit 9/11.”
Army Sgt. Peter Damon, who lost his arms when a tire on a Black Hawk helicopter exploded while he and another reservist were servicing it, claimed he was humiliated and emotionally distressed after Moore included the clip in Moore’s 2004 documentary criticizing the Bush administration and the war in Iraq.
But the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a federal judge’s decision to dismiss Damon’s lawsuit against Moore.
Moore said the unanimous decision was total vindication, and noted the three-judge panel included two judges appointed by President Bush.
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